Axios

Relativity Space, a venture-backed rocket company, just raised $140 million to fund its plan to 3D print its rockets.

Why it matters: The company is working to break into an increasingly crowded launch industry by sending relatively small satellites to orbit. This funding round puts Relativity on track to launch its first rocket — called Terran 1 — by 2021.

A comet discovered at the end of August is just the second interstellar object spotted on a path through our solar system, but scientists think it may be a harbinger of more to come.

What's happening: According to a new study accepted for publication by The Astrophysical Journal Letters, astronomers should expect that at least a few, large interstellar objects will fly through our solar system each year.

As the U.S., China and others focus on launching rockets and putting boots on the Moon, the tiny Gulf nation of the United Arab Emirates is set on building a settlement on Mars in 100 years.

Driving the news: Last week, the UAE sent its first astronaut, Hazzaa al-Mansoori, to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.